The Origin of Xephos - The Demon Brothers
by atomjenkins
Summary: A Xephos origin story/prequel to Shadow of Israphel. Rated T for Yogscast gubbins. Only Ridgedog knows anything about Xephos' history beyond the fact that he fell from the stars - but his origins may have been kept secret for a good reason...
1. Prologue: Fallen

"I had a feeling it would be you."

Ridgedog swooped down and landed silently next to the unconscious figure in the centre of the crater, curled up in a fetal position, sleeping, blissfully unaware of the events unfolding around him. Ridgedog knelt down next to the person, careful not to disturb them.

"I've been waiting for this day to come. I hoped it would never happen, but it was inevitable, really, wasn't it?" he said softly, trying to suppress the anger in his voice. He looked at the person resting before him – he was curled up tight, legs pressed against chest, held in place by his arms, wrapped tight around himself. His soft dark brown hair flopped over his bowed face, forming a curtain of darkness over his closed eyes. He appeared to be wearing some kind of uniform – red and black, with shiny black shoes and some kind of golden brooch-like badge just below his shoulder, with a kind of unrecognizable crest on it. It was a strange thing to see in the middle of the night, but Ridge had seen far more peculiar sights, though perhaps none were as terrible as this.

"What was Mother thinking? Sending you here – how idiotic! This will not solve anything – it's just made things worse! _You've _made things worse!" he cried out, but no one was listening, and no response was given. The sleeping figure did not even stir.

"This place is too dangerous for us now. With two of us here, he will find us, and transform us, and use us, and then…" Ridge did not allow himself to finish the sentence, lest thoughts of this terrible outcome came rushing into his troubled mind, and made themselves permanent residents.

"Oh Mother, I love you, but how could you have done this to me? To him? What did you hope to achieve through this?!" Ridgedog sobbed desperately, slamming a fist down into the soft dirt. The figure let out a soft cough and turned away from him.

All of a sudden, glancing back up at the sleeping figure, Ridgedog sensed a glimmer of hope.

"He doesn't remember, does he? You…you buried his memories…and you sent him to me, so he would be safe; so we would both be safe, didn't you? Didn't you? Ha!"

Ridge's trademark smile, which the locals knew him so well for, returned to his face. His features lit up as he pushed off the earth and shot into the air. As he soared higher and higher into the night sky, stars whizzing past him until they became indistinguishable white blurs, he felt a surge of joy.

"I protect the inhabitants of this planet – they are good people, and they shall help take care of him. I promise." He said quietly, to no one in particular.

Then he spoke in an ancient language, lost but to a handful of people, which included him and the sleeping figure down below, not that they, nor anyone else, would ever realize that - thankfully.

"_Orumb srromedes frermanns teck, cretarck Xephos._"


	2. Chapter 1: Barriers

_Xephos groaned and clutched his head as he tried to lift it, grimacing at the slight pain it caused him to move any part of his stiff body even slightly. He opened his eyes, crusty with sleep and heavy to lift, and peered around him. The sun was hot and high up, radiant and yellow, and there was barely a cloud in the blue sky above, but strangely, he appeared to be in some kind of huge hole, like a crater, with steep curved sides, the dirt crumbling slightly around him. How had that happened – and why was he in the middle of it?_

_Xephos cracked a couple of joints and clumsily scaled the side of the crater, the soft earth slipping beneath his feet, making it difficult to clamber out with any dignity. When he got to his feet, he saw a trail of singed grass leading to the crater. Xephos scratched his head, confused, before snippets of what had happened began to return to him. He was a spaceman, a cadet – no, as he felt his badge, he remembered, he was a commander, no less – and on his latest voyage into the depths of space, he had become separated from his crew, from the mothership, and clearly his escape pod had crashed on this planet – which fortunately seemed to have breathable air._

_Though Xephos could not remember any names or faces from his most recent mission, he dismissed it quickly as a matter of little importance, blaming it on amnesia or some other aftereffect of the crash, rather than the possibility that they were false artificial memories constructed and planted in his mind to hide his true identity. Xephos peered around, but couldn't see his escape pod anywhere – in fact, there was no evidence of a spacecraft, not a shard of glass nor a scrap of metal to be seen. Xephos quickly came up with the excuse that it had burnt up in the atmosphere, but didn't bother to come up with an excuse for, nor even touch the suspicious matter of the fact he had suffered no injury more serious than stiff joints despite falling from the sky. His brain, swimming with false memories, didn't allow him to pursue these curiosities any further._

_Xephos dismissed thinking about all this in favor of a closer inspection of this strange new land he had found himself in. While it appeared to be a simple picturesque landscape on the surface – shining sun, bright blue skies, lush green grass, meadows stretching out as far as the eye could see, clumps of short and tall trees forming oddly shaped forests – it was all so sharp and angular, not at all like an ordinary swooping and curving landscape. It was as though nature here was formed from cubes – like literal building blocks. Xephos did not know much that was true, but he knew that this was odd; Xephos dared to think it was even wrong._

_The Spaceman was distracted from his thoughts by the soft swish of a cloak behind him. He whipped around, hoping to look intimidating by pulling out his laser gun, issued as standard to all serving space cadets. His fingers closed around thin air rather than the comforting solid steel handle of his gun, but he pointed only his fingers clasped around nothing at the newcomer. Peering closer at him, Xephos saw a dignified figure, with such a powerful and intimidating, almost godlike presence that Xephos instantly dropped his arms to his side in fright. The figure wore a long dark blue overcoat, which blew and billowed in the soft breeze, with a frilly pale green shirt underneath, and plain brown trousers, which were neatly tucked into polished brown boots with gleaming golden buckles to match the glittering accents on the coat. The figure raised his eyebrows at Xephos, his eyes, like pools of liquid gold, watching him judgementally, making him feel quite conscious of the dirt in his messy hair and the mud staining his uniform, not to mention the fact he was standing next to a huge crater looking rather sheepish and out of place._

_"Did you do that?" The figure asked, tilting his head to one side inquisitively, looking at the huge hole behind the Spaceman. Xephos shook his head in frustration – he hadn't understood a word the man had said. "Korrmajj deex?" he said, clearly confused._

_The smile faded from the stranger's features. "Oh, yeah, I forgot…" he said to himself, before glancing back up at Xephos. "Doost naht beh arfrard – cest kloas nemen naip. Narca zemen morr Oracan. Shnitz darka Ridgedog."_

_"Shnitz darka Xephos." Xephos replied, comforted by the familiar language and the stranger's assurance that he meant the Spaceman no harm. He felt himself relax a little bit, even more so when the stranger's – Ridgedog, apparently – features lit up once again, his mouth stretching into a wide beam._

_It was then that Xephos realised how hoarse and dry his voice was, from not having used it for so long, and how the strange cold ache he had felt only moments before, which he had attributed to loneliness (or another unexplained side effect of crashing) had now blossomed into a warm fuzzy feeling._

_Xephos sat on the floor and began keenly and excitedly talking to his new friend, explaining how he had crashed here, what a strange place it was, and then reeling off the entire false story implanted in his memory to Ridgedog, who sat down beside him, listening bemusedly. He shook his head, laughing softly at his brother, making his tousled golden quiff wobble. "It's going to take longer than I thought to make you human enough to blend in." he said, gazing off into the distance. He held up a hand to stop Xephos waffling on too much more. "Shnark docff English." He said, staring intently into his brother's bright blue eyes, inquisitively gazing back. "Repett jaha – I am Ridgedog."_

_Xephos did not reply._

_"I…am…Ridgedog. Repett jaha."_

_"I…I…a…am…I…" Xephos stuttered tentatively, "…I…am…Xephos." Ridgedog smiled gleefully and clapped his hands._

_As they chatted and learnt from one another, Xephos felt a strange, soothing sense of calm, like he and Ridgedog were old acquaintances; friends, almost, in a strange sense – though, of course, the two had never met before._

_Of course._


	3. Chapter 2: Discussion

"Well, that's the language barrier taken care of. Shame magic couldn't come to the rescue, isn't it, Rythian?" Lalna chuckled.

Rythian only shrugged. "Magic – unlike your little scientific toys – is not so easily applied to the artificial intervention of a person's psyche. I wouldn't call that a downside." He said, barely disguising the scathing tone of his voice.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I'll just say science one, magic nil, okay?"

Zoeya, who was sitting next to Rythian, found the whole exchange rather amusing. Lalna beamed at her giggling, and even more so when Rythian turned his head away in frustration. The mage really was too serious for his own good.

"Guys, sshh. He's trying to sleep, poor thing." A pretty young woman in an owl hat said softly, in the midst of stroking a silently staring grey owl who was perched on her shoulder.

"Relax, Lomadia. This glass is soundproof." Lalna said, tapping on his creation impressively. The Spaceman inside stirred slightly before settling back down into his slumber, making everyone tense for a moment before he was still again, and everyone allowed themselves to breathe.

"Well, uh…mostly soundproof." Lalna squirmed.

"Well, he is an alien, isn't he? Maybe he's got super hearing or something?" A small Asian girl said, twirling a lock of her black hair thoughtfully.

"Maybe..."

"You know how we could solve this?" A new voice said.

"Sips, please…"

"Dirt." Sips said defiantly.

"Sips…"

"C'mon Sjin, let's show these jokers. We line this thing with a couple of layers of dirt, that guy in there won't hear a thing."

"Hell yeah, Sips!"

"Yes…but Sips, we won't be able to see into the tank then, will we?"

"Ah, they've got expensive taste, Sips!" Sjin said, glancing at Sips knowingly.

"You're right – cheapo opaque dirt is for losers. I can see that you know a quality product with no quality when you see it. For a little extra, then, how about Sipsco's new and improved transparent dirt?"

"As clear as a block of air!" Sjin piped up, holding up a block of the new product.

"You liars – that really is just a block of air!"

"How dare you!" Sjin cried.

"No dirt for you, transparent or otherwise! Lock that shit up, Sjin; don't let any of these jokers get their filthy mitts on it."

"Aye aye, Sips." Sjin said, giving a salute.

"Look, we're losing focus here…" Lalna tried to say, but was quickly interrupted by a booming command.

"Silence, all of you!" Ridgedog bellowed, terrifying everyone into cowering silence as he emerged from the shadows, hovering just slightly above the ground as usual. "I did not invite you here to bicker and squabble. I invited you here to decide what we should do with this creature, this Spaceman. Now, take it in turns. Miss Lomadia, since your owl friends found him, I suggest you have first say, and we'll go clockwise from there."

"Well…" Lomadia was suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on her. "We should see what he wants first. If he's hostile I guess we have to do something about him, but he doesn't have any weapons, and he was in a pretty bad way when Mr. Owl found him. We should try to help him as best we can, and treat him like everybody else, especially if he's friendly."

A couple of people nodded, and there were some murmurs of approval amongst the others. Ridgedog nodded too, deep in thought, and turned to look at Lalna, who was next in the misshapen circle. The scientist glanced about him uncomfortably, pulling at his collar.

"Well…I…look, in my opinion, this is a fabulous opportunity to learn about life on planets other than our own. And I don't think something like this is going to come round again any time soon. I know he looks like us, but I did a quick analysis of his biology earlier, and his genetic make-up is completely different from anything I've ever seen before. Further tests could…"

"You stick your nose in where it is not wanted, Lalna." Ridgedog said coldly, slicing through the scientist's proposition. "I will not allow any scientific research to be done on this creature." Ridgedog was fully aware that the scientist would not perform fatal tests (he was limited to performing only very dangerous ones) but any revelations regarding the Spaceman's true nature would never allow him to live a normal life as his mother – and as Ridgedog – wished.

"Yeah, he's a man – or at least, a pretty close approximation – not some piece of gunk you stick between microscope slides. Show some respect." Lomadia scolded.

"Fine. You're the boss, Ridge." Lalna said begrudgingly, sliding his scalpel back into his pocket in a sulk.

"You know what I'm the boss of? Sipsco." Sips said.

"Well, we're joint CEOs, actually, Sips…" Sjin pointed out, but it fell on deaf ears.

"And this alien dude ought to have super strength, or something else that's pretty cool about him, right? That makes him a perfect potential Sipsco employee."

"Hey, hey, hey!" A voice with a thick Scottish accent piped up. "Are ya having a laugh? I turned up for a bloody interview and you didn't give me the job! In fact, you killed me and stole all my stuff! This guy has done jackshit and you're ready to hire him!"

"Jeez, Nilesy, calm down. We only did that stuff because you were Scottish. This guy's an alien."

Lomadia interrupted. "We're getting off the subject." She said impatiently, her tone far from pleased.

"Thank you, Miss Lomadia." Ridgedog said, glaring at Sips and Nilesy in particular. "Let's get back to the topic at hand."

"What do you think we should do with him, Ridge?" Nilesy asked, genuinely curious. The others stopped their bickering and turned to face the hovering man, also interested and keen to hear the answer from someone so powerful, and so respected. Ridge paused for a moment. Should he tell them the truth, about his and the newcomer's demonic nature, well aware of the consequences that could mean for both him and his brother? Or should he at least establish that the two were familiar with each other? Ridgedog hated to lie to people he had grown so close to, but concealing the truth from them would perhaps be the best, if the most painful move; the safest option for the Spaceman and himself, not to mention these mere mortals. Ridgedog glanced warily around the room, at the mage Rythian in particular, who surely would be familiar of myths and legends and even real life accounts of demons, and how they were naturally the enemy of someone like him. Ridgedog had seen the fire and fury in his eyes when he fought with Endermen, but they were only low-level demons. How would he react – how would they all react – when they found out that the newcomer, and Ridgedog himself, were the spawn of the most powerful demonic being known to man?

A soft tapping noise interrupted him.

"Fr…frie…friend?"

Ridgedog zoomed up to the glass, where he could see his brother knelt down on the floor, a hand pressed against his side of the glass, his bright blue eyes gazing up at him. "Frie…friend?" the Spaceman said again, slightly more fluidly than before. Ridge gazed down at him, aware of the sheer number of eyeballs burrowing into his back, awaiting his response.

"Do you know him, Ridge?" Lalna asked from behind him.

"No." Ridgedog said firmly, staring at the Spaceman. He crossed his legs and sat down on thin air, floating just slightly above the ground, still at the Spaceman's eye level. "It is probably just an effect of the antibiotics."

Lalna nodded in agreement. "I guess he must be pretty tripped out. He's probably just saying anything, unaware of its meaning."

"Exactly." Ridge said, grateful for the excuse to mask his true identity, though he felt truly sorry that he had to distance himself from his brother, to pretend they didn't know one another, when the Spaceman called him a friend, not absentmindedly, unaware of its meaning, but as a way of expressing a feeling of gratitude and companionship towards the only thing he recognised in this strange new world.

He turned back to the specimen. "Are you alright?" He said slowly, allowing the words to sink in, since it was a new thing for this creature. The Spaceman nodded slowly, giving a wan smile.

"What is your name?" Ridge asked.

"I…am…Xephos."


	4. Chapter 3: Establish

"Good morning." A low voice said.

Xephos groaned and sat up, groggy and tired, his muscles and joints moaning in pain. Ridgedog stood outside his glass house, finally standing still and solid on the polished floor, hands behind his back, as he watched Xephos expectantly.  
Ridge pointed to a black boxlike structure on Xephos' wall, and lifted one of his hands to his mouth, holding his own black box, identical to the one in Xephos' cell.

"This is a microphone. Speak to people through these by holding the little green button, or if you want anything, press the little red button and someone will come and speak to you."

Xephos stood and pulled away a section of the black box, which was attached by an elastic curly wire. As Ridge had pointed out, there were two little buttons, red and green, below a huge speaker, which doubled as a transmitter and a receiver for audio. Xephos pressed down the green button, and croaked out a greeting. Ridgedog nodded, satisfied, and hung his own microphone up on the wall beside him.

With that he began to drift away, heading for the door, but Xephos rushed up to the glass and rapped his knuckles against it. "Wait…don't…I know…you...friend?" he said, stuttering each word.

Ridgedog turned around sharply, and gave Xephos a cold hard stare. He didn't reach for his microphone, but he mouthed something that Xephos understood as a sign of rejection.

"I'm not your friend. I've never met you before."

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"Hi there, Xephos." Lalna said, sitting down on a swiveling chair outside the glass tank and bringing the microphone up to his lips.

"Hello." Xephos spoke into his own microphone, slowly and deliberately, still not quite at ease with the technology nor the language of this planet.

"So, uh, do you mind answering a few questions for me? About yourself?"

"I can do that, friend." Xephos nodded. Lalna smiled and readied his pen and clipboard.

"Okay, so, what's your full name?"

"Uh…Xephos Riker." Xephos was unsure where the last name came from, but it seemed to fit, it seemed to be one he'd used before, so he said it almost automatically.

"Xephos is a pretty unusual name, isn't it?"

Xephos raised a judgmental eyebrow. "So is Lalna, friend."

"It's Minecraftian, I'll have you know."

"For what?"

"Uh…well…uh…livid coffee." Lalna mumbled, more to his paper than to Xephos.

"What?"

"_Livid coffee_, okay? Don't laugh at me."

Xephos stifled a snigger. "Xephos means firefly."

"Well, that's better than 'livid coffee', I guess. What language is that in?"

"Huh…I'm not sure, friend."

"You, uh, you don't need to keep saying 'friend'. It doesn't declare the end of a sentence."

"I know."

"Right, so, why do you keep saying it? Do you know what it means?"

"Yes – 'a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection'. Isn't that you?"

"Me? I…uh…" Lalna struggled for words.

"Well, you're my friend, anyway. You seem nice, and you're the only one who's spoken to me so far, apart from Ridgedog."

"Right, okay." Lalna sighed, like some kind of impatient teacher, which was he felt like most of the time when trying to teach anyone about one of his complex experiments and equations, or why it was simply _necessary _to use nukes for mining as opposed to traditional pickaxes. "You should probably learn to make friends with people you actually like, rather than the first ones you see." Lalna said, his mind wandering guiltily about how he had been prepping his surgical tools earlier, ready to further inspect and examine Xephos in an operating theatre, as opposed to in a friendly – if odd – discussion.

"I guess you'll just have to do for now, friend." Xephos said, thinking deeply, and meaning the comment in a genuinely obtuse sort of way, rather than displaying a sarcastic attitude.

"Right…okay. Getting back to the questions…what language do you speak?"

"I don't really remember."

"What about your species? Or your planet?" Lalna probed enthusiastically.

"I…I…can't remember any of that stuff. All I remember is waking up here."

"That's a shame." Lalna said, the smile fading from his face as he slashed a line through certain boxes on his questionnaire.

"Is there something wrong with me, friend?" Xephos said, suddenly concerned, his expression one of extreme worry.

"No, no, no, not at all." Lalna said quickly. "You're probably still under the influence of the antibiotics…and the whole crashing thing, I guess. Nothing to worry about. It'll wear off soon enough."

"I suppose you're right." Xephos murmured.

"So…do you remember how you crashed here? Or anything at all?" Lalna said, keen for information. If Ridge wouldn't allow him to take physical samples of this subject, he had to make the most of what the alien could actually tell him.

"I remember…I remember I was serving as first officer of the newest ship in our fleet, the Enterprise. It was all going well, the crew was nice, the missions exciting, but…something…on that last mission…something went wrong, I can't remember what. But we needed to escape for some reason…all I remember is that there was a lot of fire, so much fire…and people…screaming…" Xephos clutched his head, causing Lalna to sit up in panic. "…so many…uh…um…and the fire…it was blue…bright blue…and…burning…so bright..I…I…I…don't…I don't want to….to talk about this anymore."

"Understandable." Lalna said, unsure what to say. He was not very good with emotions, nor the people who displayed too many of them. He was a sociopath, born with an abandoned heart, and he had remained that way and intended to remain that way for the rest of his life. Sob stories and broken hearts were for chumps. "What do you want to talk about?" He asked, still keen for information.

"What do _you_ do, Lalna?"

"Me?" Lalna had not been prepared for such a question. "Huh….well…not much, really. Magic, though I hate to admit it, seems to have pretty much everything covered. I always come up with these little inventions and trinkets, but there's not much call for scientists these days, at least not ones like me. I always ask; 'what's the point of science if it's not done by a _mad_ scientist?' but that never seems to go down well. Particularly with those more invested in…_sorcery._" He sneered the last word, thinking of Rythian.

Xephos furrowed his brow and cocked his head in thought. "I suppose science _would_ be more fun if it was done by someone who was mad. I always thought the ship would be faster if we took the limiter off the dark matter engines. And that _would_ make missions a lot more exciting."

Lalna sat up gleefully. "Now you're talking my language, Xephos."

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"So you're Xephos?" The young woman said, unsure of how loudly to speak into the microphone. She didn't want to deafen the man, but at the same time he needed to actually hear what she was saying.

"Yes, that's correct, miss."

"Oh, you don't have to call me miss." Lomadia blushed. "I'm Lomadia, and this is Mr. Owl."

"Yes, I know, he already introduced himself."

"He did?" Lomadia shot a confused look at the bird resting on her lap, who was watching Xephos, just as wide-eyed and curious as any of the humans. Xephos waved at the bird. Mr. Owl blinked back. Lomadia giggled. "He doesn't normally say hello to people. Especially ones he's never met before."

"I'm the man who fell from the skies." Xephos reminded her, "I don't believe I qualify as 'normal'."

Mr. Owl let out a low hoot in agreement. Lomadia laughed and patted him softly on his feathered head.

"Did you want to ask something?" Xephos said, a tone of seriousness lining his voice.

"I don't know." Lomadia said, shrugging and sighing. "It's funny. I always think I have so many questions for strangers, like when you go and meet a celebrity, but I just end up saying nothing and looking like an idiot."

"I get that." Xephos said, nodding, though he had never 'got that' in his life; he just wanted to identify with someone.  
He turned onto his side to look at her pretty face again. "Well, I want to ask you something."

"Oh, okay. Go ahead."

"Are people…afraid of me? I mean, people are talking to me, like you, and Lalna, but I'm in this glass tank, and I can't see how I'm so different from anyone else…which makes me think…no…it's daft…"

"It makes you think you're dangerous." Lomadia finished.

"Well…yes…and I thought I recognized your friend – the flying one…"

"Ridge?"  
"Yeah, but, he didn't seem to know me…actually…I don't think he likes me very much…"

"That's so unlike him. Why do you think that? Has he said something to you?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just…I thought I knew him, but I don't, I've never met him, even though I thought we'd met…but…and sometimes he looks at me like he's a friend, but sometimes it's more like…like…like he hates me…"

"That's not true, Xephos. It's just…well, people don't know how to react to strange situations like this. This has never happened before, and everyone's still trying to get used to it. It's not everyday an alien lands on your doorstep, is it? Ridge sometimes acts like a bit of power hungry jerk, but we all do at some point, I guess. He's a nice guy, and you seem pretty decent too. We're just all under a lot of stress, that's all. Everyone's freaking out and Ridge is just trying to keep everything under control."

"Everyone's freaking out?" Xephos sat up and looked at her with genuine concern. "About…me? Do they think I'm going to hurt someone?"

Lomadia did not reply, mostly because she simply didn't know how to respond without making the situation worse. Or, indeed, she didn't know what to say at all.

The silence said enough.

"I see." The Spaceman said in a small voice, as he hung up his microphone and curled up on his mattress, hugging himself because it seemed no one else dared to even come close.


	5. Chapter 4: Suspicion

If Zoeya weren't one of Rythian's closest friends, she would have probably felt afraid entering his sleeping quarters, especially unattended.

It was a dark and mysterious room, lit only by a few purple-pink torches that Rythian had told her kept Endermen at bay. They cast a soft dim light around the room, but this meant that everything in the room was hard to make out, and things you _could_ see cast strange ragged silhouettes on the walls, making it feel more like a haunted house than a cozy bedroom. The only other light came from an occasional lightning strike from outside, seen through the room's large window, which almost took up the back wall; these were a guaranteed feature in any of Ridge's rooms. The lightning bolts lit up the room almost completely in white light, as well as causing a few pigs outside to run scared and snorting. In the centre of the room sat the mage himself, leafing through what looked like ancient texts as he knelt in the centre of a enchantment circle, which he and Zoeya had carved and painted onto the floor together. Well, Tee had done most of the carving. It was easier for him, being a dinosaur and all.

She sauntered into the room and gave Rythian a wave. The mage acknowledged her with a slight nod of the head before returning to his pages.

"Hey. How come you're not with everyone else?"

"Where's everyone else?"

"They're all downstairs in Ridge's lobby, talking about stuff. Well, everyone except Lomadia and Ridge."

"And Xephos, I assume?"

"Well, yeah."

"I also assume that his arrival was the main topic of your conversation?"

"Yeah. I was speaking to Lalna about him."

Rythian's protective instincts instantly fired up and started screaming with hate at the mention of the scientist's name, but he maintained his indifferent expression as he thumbed through his books, skimming and scanning certain pages and flicking past others. "Zoeya, I need to tell you something. Something important. But you can't tell anyone, not even Teep."

"Why can't I tell Greenman? It's not like _he's_ going to tell anyone – he can't speak."

"I know that. But can you please just promise me? _I'll_ tell Teep if you really can't keep it from him."

"Fine, then."

"It's about…my birth. You know I am an…Enderborn?"

Zoeya nodded after a moment of stunned silence. Rythian hardly ever discussed his origins, and Zoeya didn't think she'd ever heard him refer to himself by _that_ name.

"Endermen, and all the hostile mobs of this planet, are low-level demons. Most of them burn in the sunlight because of this. Endermen are smart enough to retreat to their homeworld or dark caverns in order to prevent this."

"Demons? Like…real ones? From Hell? I thought they were only in myths and legends and stuff."

"Don't let science blind you, Zoeya. Demons are very real…in fact…I…am part demon myself, being the spawn of an Enderman and a human. Though this genetic make-up has brought me some benefits – for example, it allows me to utilize both dark Ender magic as well as human magic – I consider it a...curse and I...I have always...loathed...a part of me."

"Is that why whenever you kill an Enderman you go all moody and kinda scary?"

"Yes. I made a promise to my human mother long ago that I would make the world a gentler place, by ridding it of the demons that had abused her trust, and caused the death of my brother."

"Oh boy. Are we going to go on an epic Enderman hunt, killing evil-doers and rescuing damsels?"

"No, we're…no, we're not doing that. What I wanted to tell you is that I believe our visitor is not from space. I believe Xephos is a demon. A powerful one – in fact I believe he is the spawn of the Great Devil himself."

There was a long pause, only broken by the murmur of chatter downstairs and the grunt of monsters outside.

"I know you don't have much reason to believe me, Zoeya. But I needed to tell someone, and you're the only person I really trust. It sounds so insane going around in my head, I was beginning to drive myself mad…"

"I believe you."

"Yes, I know, it sounds crazy, but…wait, what? You do?"

"Well...it kinda makes sense. A little bit. I mean, I wouldn't ever have come to _that_ conclusion, but I've read about demons before, about how they were forged in hell and stuff like that? Well, Lalna told me that he asked Xephos how he got here, and all Xephos could remember was a lot of blue fire, and people screaming, and all kinds of other creepy things."

"That matches most descriptions people have of hell – satanic blue flames burning wicked and sinful people alive, then the Great Devil would bring them back to life so he could destroy them all over again, for entertainment…"

"Yeah, I got the fact that it's not the jolliest place to be. You can stop with the horrific description now, please."

"What else did Lalna say?"

"He said he tried to get some DNA and blood samples, but he can't analyze it in any detail and any attempts to compare it with other samples don't work."

"Science is proven limited, once again. Of course Lalna would never consider the possibility that a creature of legend's DNA couldn't be examined – he's far too stubborn and arrogant to admit that. I don't suppose he'd let me see the samples; he hates my guts."

"Rythian…"

"I suppose I could _take_ them...no, knowing Lalna he's got them locked up tight, probably protected against my magic as well. I suppose the only way to get some is to retrieve them from Xephos himself. But how would I go about doing that? The demon inside him may be concealed, but it's in there…somewhere…I can't arouse too much suspicion…"

"Rythian…?"

"I suppose I'll just have to retrieve it the old fashioned way, and examine it myself with my magic." Rythian said, clenching his fist around his red matter katana eagerly. Zoeya noticed his sudden tensing and tugged at his cape urgently.

"Rythian…I…I trust you, and I won't tell anyone about this – not even Tee, not if you don't want – but I...I...can't...help you with this."

Rythian's face fell.

"I mean, I...get what you're saying, and I know demons are bad - possibly an understatement, you get the point - but I don't want to hurt people. I can't do this."

Was Zoeya really…abandoning him? Was this a joke? No…was it a spell cast by the demon? Turning his most loyal of companions against him – and taunting him inside the shell of a vulnerable innocent?

"I know what this means to you, and Xephos may really be a demon, I don't know. But until he actually starts acting like one, I'm not helping you…kill him. Because that's what you want to do, isn't it? I hope it is, otherwise that'd be really embarrassing…well, obviously I hope it isn't, but…oh, you get what I mean. I'm not hurting someone who's done nothing wrong. Just like I would never hurt you. Even if _you_ are a demon." Her eyes were wide, serious and solemn. This was no joke, no trick, no trap, no spell. True, the serious tone did not match Zoeya's normally bubbly personality, but it was unmistakably there.

"You're…leaving me?" Rythian said, barely masking the cracked tone of his voice. There were also underlying tones of anger, fury – Zoeya dared to compare his demon heritage to _Xephos' _demon heritage? He could hardly consider the offspring of a low-level Enderman and the spawn of the Devil himself to be comparable in any way.

"Oh, uh, no. I mean, this isn't the end of anything. I mean, we'll still see each other – my room's only across the hall there – and I guess we'll still do magic-y stuff together, and eat together – with Tee as well – and we'll go flying and grow mushrooms and…"

"Zoeya, you're either with me, or you're against me. A demon will die…or demons will rise."

"Well, actually, I can be both, look. I'm _with _you right now, and look, if I lean on you…" Zoeya flopped, leaning most of her weight on Rythian's left arm. "…I'm against you, see?" She glanced up to see Rythian's cold purple eyes glaring at her. She chuckled nervously, and regained her balance.

"No." he said harshly, "I mean you're either a friend, or an enemy. For your sake, I will describe it as either being a mushroom, or an Enderman." Rythian said, his eyes glowing a brighter purple, pulsating wildly with rage as he stalked towards the nervous redhead, who backed away until she was standing in the hallway.

"And I'm a mushroom, right?" she asked, somewhat fearfully.

"Wrong." Rythian said scathingly, slamming his door and leaving the distressed mushroom queen in the hallway.

She slammed her head against the door and rested it there for a while, pain screaming through her head, so if someone saw her standing in the corridor she could at least give them a plausible excuse for why there were tears dripping down her face.


	6. Chapter 5: Intrigue

Ridge's office was a large, rounded room that had a homely, if grand, atmosphere. The walls were dark red, lined with ancient oak bookshelves, each one of them stuffed with huge and heavy-looking books on all manner of subjects – some appeared to have titles written in many different languages, while others had a more 'five minute meals' type feel to their spines. On the back wall there was a window, looking out over a beautiful Minecraftian meadow, which by day was a field of peacefully grazing sheep, cows and poultry, and by night was a battleground for the spiders and the undead. In front of this window was a cluttered desk, covered in papers, toy soldiers, and photographs of days gone by; and behind the desk, a plush, throne-like chair. In the chair, as Lomadia entered, was a worried looking Ridgedog, whose expression of concern quickly changed to one of irritation when Lomadia walked in the room.

"What is it, Lomadia? I've got a lot to think about, and I don't have time to…"

"Well, you're not going to like this, since I've got a heap more for you to think about." Lomadia's tone was her own variation of Ridge's deeply intimidating voice. This was what made him look up from his desk and look her in the eye.

"Continue." He said, his stare never once faltering.

"It's Xephos – I've been talking to him, and he seems upset. Afraid, even."

"That's fairly understandable. Strange new world, strange new people…I imagine it's just a temporary thing. Homesickness, or something similar. He'll soon adjust."

"That's what I thought, but I thought I should tell you that it seems to be something _more _than that. Like…genuine fear, not just nerves. And…well…he seems afraid of you in particular, Ridge."

"Afraid of me?" Ridge's tone was one of fairly genuine surprise. It was true he had wanted to distance himself from his brother in order to protect him from the truth and sever any connections they had, but he had never meant for the two to become enemies, least of all for his own sibling to be afraid of him. It seemed Xephos' human form was one of surprising vulnerability. Ridge quickly resumed his stoic expression.

"I'm afraid I don't know where this belief has come from, Lomadia, but I assure you I will try to…"

"Cut the crap, Ridge. What's happened to you?" Lomadia suddenly burst out.

Ridge was taken aback. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean…"

"Bullshit, Ridge! You haven't been the same since Xephos arrived! Now, I'm not blaming it on either on you, but what I want to know is – where's the real Ridge? The old Ridge, who used to always point out our inferiority, always laugh at us, at everything; who used to fly absolutely everywhere, racing us all everywhere and doing loop-the-loops along the way; who used to smile 24/7, and it was this really annoying, false but so gleeful smile that made me want to punch you in the face…anyway, that's not the point…the point is, what's happened?"

"Nothing's happened to me, Lomadia, I'm simply under a lot of stress…"

Ridge was interrupted by a hard strike across the face.

He felt a rush of blood to his cheek dull the pain for a moment, as he regained his composure, locking eyes with Lomadia. He felt a flare of rage which quickly subsided, thanks to years of practicing his control. No mortal had ever dared to hit a demon…but then, Ridge was just another human to this lot. A flying, intimidating human, but a human nonetheless.

"You think you're the only one under stress?!" She yelled, furious. "I have had to deal with a sausage fest from hell for the past few days – I've had Nilesy, Sips and Sjin bickering all the bloody time about pools and dirt and God-knows-what; I've had Rythian moping around muttering to himself; I've had Ravs drunk out his mind; I've had Lalna…being bloody Lalna; I've had Xephos freaking about absolutely everything; and I've had _you _having the absolute _cheek _to tell _me_ that _you're _stressed? Ridge, I have had it…I've absolutely…"

"_Enough!_" Ridge suddenly snapped, rocketing into the air, blasting furniture around him in different directions; and glaring down at the timid owlkeeper with such venom that Lomadia was rooted to the spot with fear. His eyes, once pools of molten amber, were now tinged with crimson and flames of fury, his anger peaking to something the owlkeeper had never seen before. She remained crouched on the floor for a couple of moments of unbearable silence.

Ridge sighed and sunk back into his plush velvet chair, his eyes fixed on his desk's dark oak work surface, dulling back down to their usual golden colour. The few moments that passed felt like millennia. Lomadia gulped and slowly got back up off the floor, shocked at her friend for his outburst, and shocked at herself for thinking that she might not have left the room had Ridge not regained control of himself.

"I'm…so...so sorry." Ridgedog said, barely audible. "I…I…need to…I need to…need someone to hear me...I…I…" He looked up at the terrified woman, and instantly her fear evaporated, replaced with sorrow, for truly Lomadia in all her years had never seen Ridge so very tired, his eyes so aged, his face so worried.

"_I'm_ here, Ridge." She said softly, taking Ridge's cool hands gently in her own. "_I'm_ listening."

Ridge shook his head violently. "No…no…no, you…you can't…I have to…protect…Xephos…" he stammered, pulling his hands away.

"Listen, Ridge, I want to protect him too. He's so lost and afraid, he doesn't show it, but it's there, in his eyes…and, well, when I told him why we were keeping him there, he seemed so sad…" Lomadia thought back to Xephos' face crumpling when he thought the others feared him. She remembered how he had curled up in a ball and had not reacted to anything she had said after that, nor even when Mr. Owl had slipped in through an air vent and started pecking his ear. She thought of all this, and how dearly she wished to help, as she took hold of Ridge's hand again, and with the other hand lifted his chin up, so his eyes bored into her own. She smiled. Ridge barely mustered his own toothy grin.

Ridge did not appreciate Lomadia slapping him, nor did he appreciate her in one of her 'over-emotional' moods, but he had known her for many years, and trusted her with his infinite life. If anyone should know the truth, it was her. Ridge knew she would be shocked, horrified, scared, angry – but he knew, deep down, that she would never betray him.

"Very well. I will…tell you…everything. But…" Ridge's voice took on a hard tone, "…this information is not to be repeated to anyone."

"What information? What do you mean? Information about Xephos?"

"First you must promise, you must swear to me – _you will not tell anyone._"

Lomadia was taken aback by the stern tone of his voice and the cold look in his molten gold eyes. "I promise, Ridge. I swear to you."

Ridge considered a blood binding, but Lomadia held up her hand and outstretched her pinky finger. Ridge replicated her movement and curled his own pinky finger around Lomadia's and shook it. A pinky swear would suffice – there was no need for wrist slashing.

Ridge gestured for Lomadia to sit in his large chair while he drifted over to his bookshelves, and began tracing his finger over dusty volumes of leather bound books, stuffed with crinkled yellowed pages. He quickly found the one he wanted and pulled it out, not even staggering under its weight. As he flew back over to rest the gigantic book on the desk, flipping pages as he went, he glanced up at Lomadia.

"Are you aware of the legends regarding the Great Devil, Lomadia?"

"Only the ones my mum used to try and scare me into eating carrots with. None of the gory ones." Lomadia said, leaning back in the chair as she thought.

"Well, then," Ridge said, placing the book, open on a page filled with paragraphs of cursive script, obviously written by hand, on the desk, facing Lomadia, "this should be quite an…education."


	7. Chapter 6: Origins

_The Universe as we know it is divided into 5 unique __**Realms **__(also known as __**Dimensions**__) which can all be accessed via the use of __**Portals **__(also referred to as __**Gates**__). Four of these Dimensions were naturally spawned, while the fifth was created artificially. Some Portals have a __**DNA Lock **__which prevents certain species from entering and exiting the Realm. They are as follows:_

**_Minecraftia _**_(sometimes referred to as the __**Overworld** (English translation)__or the __**Brightlands**__) contains the widest variety of life of all the Dimensions, and is the only one that is considered fit for long-term __**Human **__(split into two groups, low-class, otherwise known as __**Testificates**__; or high-class, known as __**Players**__) survival, as there is fertile soil, wildlife, resources such as coal and iron, etc. It is also the only known Dimension that can support the growth of plants other than mushrooms or Nether wart, as it is the only Dimension that contains water or has sunlight. For these reasons, and the docility of the mobs relative to other Realms, it is the only Dimension where Humans have set up infrastructure._

**_The Nether _**_(sometimes referred to as __**Hell **__or the __**Firelands**__) is the Dimension most commonly accessed by Humans other than Minecraftia. It is a far more hostile environment than that of the Overworld, consisting mostly of Netherrack and lakes of lava. Since no water can be placed and no plants can grow in the Nether, only mobs which have mutated and adapted to the extreme heat and lack of nourishment are found (e.g. __**Ghasts**__, __**Pigmen**__, etc.) and no Human colonies have been established._

**_The End _**_(sometimes referred to as the __**Sky Biome **__or the __**Enderlands**__) is a Dimension populated solely by __**Endermen**__, however there is no DNA Lock preventing the entry of Humans, but most __**End Portals **__need to be restored to allow entry to any being other than Endermen. The End is also the smallest Dimension in terms of land area, consisting only of a small asteroid surrounded by __**Void Stuff**__. The asteroid originally served as the __**Ender Dragon**__'s nest, but was expanded into a makeshift kingdom by the __**Endermen**__, as they serve as the eternal servants of the __**Dragon**__._

**_The Aether _**_(sometimes referred to as __**Heaven**__ or the __**Cloudlands**__) is one of the two dimensions which cannot be accessed by Humans. However, it has a second __**DNA Lock**__ (and is the only Dimension to have more than one) which also prevents all __**Demons **__from entering. As such, only __**Angels **__and __**The Creator**__ live in this Dimension, and do not often leave it._

**_Ukushona _**_(sometimes referred to as __**Blue Hell **__or the __**Deadlands **(English translation)__) is the parallel to the Aether and the only other Dimension that cannot be accessed by Humans. It is similar to the __**Nether **__in that it consists of a burning, hostile landscape, but it contains no ordinary fire – instead it contains hellfire, which is burning cold. Ukushona is the only Dimension which has been artificially created by forces other than __**The Creator**__. It was created to serve as a prison for the __**Great Devil **__and other high-level __**Demons**__._

_ The __**Great Devil**__ (Demon: __**Israphel**__, pronounced ihz-rarr-fell) is the root of all-evil. It has no physical form, and no definitive voice or mind, for no sentient being could contain the creature without withering away, for the Devil's power was too great. It was eventually banished to the world of __**Ukushona**__, the artificially made prison Dimension. Here, it could not escape, as it needed a host which was not only powerful enough to contain it (called a __**durable vessel**__) but was also able to survive in Ukushona as well as __**Minecraftia**__, as only a __**Demon **__(split into low, mid, and high-level) could survive in Ukushona, but only a __**Human**__ could survive in Minecraftia. The __**Devil **__attempted to create durable vessels by at first creating a human-Enderman hybrid (referred to as an __**Enderborn**__) but this attempt was unsuccessful, and the host was killed by the Devil's power._

_The first mention of a demonic being more powerful than any other is this Minecraftian cautionary tale, circa Indev Version 0.31:_

_A long time ago, a barren woman prayed to have children. Into her house flew a white robed stranger, believed to be an __**Angel**__ of __**The Creator **__(Demon: __**Notch**__, pronounced noch) who had come to answer her prayer. "Fear not, gentle woman," the Angel said, "I have come to free you from your sin, for you have demons in your body which prevent you from granting the gift of life in the form of children. These seven demons form the basis of all evil, and they shall be called greed, pride, wrath, envy, lust, sloth, and gluttony. Do not be afraid – I shall cast these seven demons out of your body and free you from their taint."_

_The Angel drew out the demons, which were weakened, but not destroyed, by the light of day, as their fragile human forms protected them. The woman rejoiced and praised the Angel, and carried on with her day, hoping to find the love of her life._

_But the woman returned that night to the Angel, weeping and collapsing upon her bed in despair.  
"Dear woman, what troubles you so?" the Angel asked._

_"Great Angel, I cannot find love. Now I am free of my sins, I see the faults of others, even petty ones, as disgusting. No other human has been granted such perfection, so all other humans are doomed to be hated by me, for I am flawless and I despise their flaws. I fear they will corrupt me." The woman cried, sobbing into her blankets._

_Unbeknownst to the woman, the Angel was no savior – it was a disguised demon, walking the earth in order to cause chaos. Though it was a creature born from hatred, it was pained to see the woman so upset, for it had realized love for the first and only time. "Mortal, I am in love with you!" it exclaimed, taking the woman by surprise. "A pact will be made – if you weave your life with my own, so that we may be together forever, until death do us part, then I will give you children. You will love me forever, for I am an Angel, a perfect being, and I love you, for my love is not restricted by mortal laws."_

_The woman blinked tears out of her eyes, having finally found salvation. "Then, yes, I will bind myself to you in blood and in love, mighty Angel, for the gift of children!" The woman cried out, taking a knife and slashing both their wrists, pouring each other's blood into their wounds._

_Though the demon had found love, it could not fulfill the promise, for it was created to destroy, never to create. It could only bring death, rather than breathe life. And so it formed sons and daughters out of the seven fragments of evil it had expelled from the woman, giving physical form to the pieces that formed the basis of all evil, half-human, half-demon, later known as the __**Seven Deadly Sins**__._

_The first was an experiment, roughly patched together, and the final result was a hideously deformed creature, which was born with a death-wish for appearing so ugly to itself, but attracting others as it appeared as to be a handsome young man. This being was known as __**Pride**__._

_The second was a woman who stole the limbs of others and replaced her own with them, eventually turning her into a hideous jumble of body parts, simply because she was so jealous of their abilities and appearance. This being was known as __**Envy**__._

_The third was a creature that was always awake, but longed for nothing more than to rest, but it could not, for it was never tired, never weary, nor could it even sit or lie down. Consistently kept awake, the creature reverted to a state of extreme survival, on the brink of insanity, and darkness that even humans must put to sleep was allowed to emerge in full bloom. This being was known as __**Sloth**__._

_The fourth was a vampiric creature, doomed to desire the impossible, and to desire it in rich supplies. This creature quickly went mad, born with no greater purpose than to want and to take, arms bound by unbreakable chains. This being was known as __**Greed**__._

_The fifth was a thin, gnarled creature who could devour anything and anyone, but never be content – it was always ravenous. When it was sectioned, it began to rip out chunks of its own flesh to satisfy its appetite, but to no avail. In order to stop it from eating all things, its mouth was sealed shut for all eternity, and its own body covered in strong metal armour that its jaws could not destroy. This being was known as __**Gluttony**__._

_The sixth was a beautiful woman who loved all, but was despised by all. Loneliness turned her bitter, cruel and vengeful, as she sought to find love where there was only hate, transforming her into a warrior, who felt neither pain nor mercy. This being was known as __**Lust**__._

_The final demon, the weakest and frailest as a human, could not support all of the power fed to it. After only around three quarters of the power had been given, the distressed woman interrupted the demon, seeing how this being was near destruction, sparing the final son from the last portion of demonic powers, which made it appear relatively normal in comparison to the others, its powers only awakened when it got angry or frightened, blinding its conscience and numbing its sense of mercy. This being was known as __**Wrath**__._

_When the demon had finished creating the seven beings, the woman began to weep. "These…these…monsters were not what I longed for! You have betrayed me, Angel! Each one of them was forged from darkness – you have made physical the mortal sins of all the universe, crimes which will lead us to eternal damnation! There is no love in their hearts – and how can people with no flaws such as us ever love creatures like this?"_

_The demon finally removed its disguise, disintegrating into black smoke, whispering; "I am the most flawed being in all of Creation, for I am the Great Devil. I am Evil Incarnate, Evil Itself – and you are bound to me for eternity." as it whisked the woman and the seven deadly sins – with souls of demons and flesh of men – away._


	8. Chapter 7: Escalation

"Xephos?" Came a crackly question, through the hung up microphone in Xephos' tank. "Are you awake?"

"I am now." Xephos grumbled moodily, picking himself up from his mattress wearily. Just as soon as he had entered a deep sleep, someone had come to interrupt him. He was thankful that the visitor could not hear him mumbling to himself about his displeasure at being disturbed. He already seemed to have made an enemy of at least two people he'd come into contact with. Looking outside the glass, Lalna stood there, the microphone up against his mouth, the other hand clutching a clipboard, which most likely meant more questions. Normally Xephos was happy to try and share any information which would help people, but since that was what he'd been doing all day, he was not only tired, but he was tired _of it_. Xephos sighed and reached for his microphone, bringing it up to his lips groggily. "Yes, Lalna? What do you want?"

Lalna most likely picked up on Xephos' irritable tone, but he didn't comment on it. Instead he rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Uh, I've got something for you. It's from Lomadia."

Xephos felt a pang of guilt at the mention of the young lady's name. He suddenly felt bad at his moan at her earlier; after all she had been one of the only ones to even speak to him, other than the scientist before him now.

"From Lomadia? What is it?"

"It's a petition for your release. She's speaking to Ridge right now, but I thought you'd like to sign it before I give it to him."

He strolled up to the glass tank and slid the clipboard under the door, pulling a pen out of his inside pocket and rolling that through the crack as well. Xephos picked up the clipboard and pen, squinting his eyes at the page before him. The page was filled with random squiggles that Xephos could not distinguish from one another, nor even understand. "What does all this say?" the Spaceman said in frustration.

"Well, it's all our names…wait…oh, of course. The language assimilation program only translated your auditory receptors, rather than your ocular input."

Xephos blinked blankly at him.

"You can understand spoken English, but not written English." Lalna said plainly, feeling the familiar 'teacher-student' vibe.

"Oh." Xephos said, trying to understand the loops and squiggles on the page, but failing miserably. "Is everyone's name on here?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Me, Nilesy, Sips, Sjin, Ravs, Minty, Zoeya…"

"Did Ridgedog sign it?" Xephos said, not looking up.

"Well, I haven't given it to him yet."

"That's a no, then." Xephos said, sighing miserably. Lalna decided not to point out that Rythian had also refused to sign it, even though Zoeya had made a point of doing so. Even his dinosaur friend, Teep, had scratched a blocky signature onto the paper, with his claws dipped in ink.

Lalna was about to ask for the clipboard and pen back, but after a glance at Xephos' miserable expression, he instead pulled out a scrap of crumbled paper and another pen. In his cursive script he wrote Xephos' name, and pressed it up against the glass for Xephos himself to see. Joyfully, Xephos began to copy it down on the petition, crudely and childishly, but with much effort, so much so that Lalna couldn't help but laugh at Xephos slightly, at the sheer amount of concentration on his face, and how his tongue poked out slightly between his teeth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ever fought in a battle before, Xephos?"

"Not really. I did some basic training as a cadet, but that was a long time ag…"

The mage opened the door to the tank defiantly. Xephos shrank against his mattress as Rythian held the door open for him and gestured outside.

"I'm…I'm not allowed out there." Xephos said nervously. He felt oddly guilty for even seeing someone not through a pane of glass, he had become so accustomed to it.

"Fine. Then I'll come in here." Rythian said, a steely glint in his eyes past his indifferent expression. Xephos gulped as the mage closed the door with a thud. The Spaceman was surprised to see that none of the glass shattered, the door was slammed with such defiance and force.

"But…but I told you…I've never fought before, and…"

"About time you learned, then. There are discussions of you helping us to defend this base from mobs."

"Mobs?"

"No one's told you? This is a dangerous world, Xephos. You were lucky we found you when we did. Hostile creatures, raised from the dead, stalk the earth during the night, and retreat into the mines at day."

"Why's that?"

"Most of the mobs are low-level demons, you see. They are hurt by the sunlight. But at night, they assault this house, hoping to feed on our flesh. So I thought you'd need to know how to defend yourself – especially bearing in mind that Lalna is going to give in a petition asking Ridge to let you out."

"Yes, I know. I signed it." Xephos said proudly, puffing up his chest.

Rythian's brow furrowed. "You signed it? I thought you couldn't write."

"I'm a fast learner."

Rythian smiled under his mask. "You'll need to be." From his belt he pulled out his red matter katana and tossed it in Xephos' direction, letting it clang on the floor before the Spaceman picked it up gingerly.

"Don't look so afraid, Xephos. I'll go easy on you." Rythian said, pulling back his cloak and getting into a fighting stance, whipping out a second red matter blade and wielding it with terrifying precision and power. Xephos gulped.

"But…but I don't want to hurt you." Xephos said, listening to the gentle hum of his weapon, and concluding that anything that came into contact with it would end up a little more than singed. The weapon felt clunky and clumsy in his hands, not to mention heavy. Xephos decided to attribute that to his unfamiliarity with the gravitational field, rather than his lack of strength.

Rythian narrowed his eyes. "I didn't say I'd go _that _easy."

"But still…don't you think I should have some training, go through some basic moves before…argh!" Before Xephos could finish his sentence, a searing pain struck his left arm and sent him flying onto (thankfully) his mattress. Rythian had sprang at him and slashed right through his sleeve, and Xephos' blood fizzled on Rythian's katana as he positioned himself, poised to strike again. Xephos clutched his burning arm and glared at Rythian.

"I wasn't ready!" he cried.

"You think a zombie will wait until you're ready?" Rythian said, not taking his eyes off Xephos' wound. "You have to accept that you won't always be battling on your own terms!" he said, darting round to the back of the Spaceman and kicking him roughly in the back, so Xephos was sent flying forward and smacked head first into the cold floor of his cell. He tasted blood in his mouth and coughed a little out, but Rythian grabbed hold of his hair and whipped him around roughly, pressing him down into the ground once again.

"I thought you were going to go easy on me?!"

"This _is_ easy, Xephos – you told me you were a fast learner!"

The Spaceman struggled but the mage had him pinned down hard, his katana up against the Spaceman's neck.

It would be easy to end it all now, Rythian mused – just a quick slice of his neck and he'd be dead, and justice would be served.

But he had to be sure.

Stepping off of the Spaceman, but keeping his blade close to his neck, Rythian's other hand exploded into an orb of powerful white energy. He jumped backwards before blasting the Spaceman a couple of times with it, catapulting him to the other side of the room and making him slam into the glass, again, surprising Xephos when it didn't break. The Spaceman, weakened, slumped to the floor, on his hands and knees as he tried in vain to heave himself back up. Rythian held up his fist and approached Xephos with caution – the only way he could find out if Xephos was a demon was to awaken his powers, which were obviously buried under this vulnerable façade – but these powers would be great, and Rythian had to watch his guard, as well as avoid suspicion. The mage held his outstretched hand out in front of him, still glowing with white light, and continued to approach Xephos. The white light was a powerful human spell created specifically to ward off high-level demons, and completely destroy low-level ones. It was called _yemanga_, Minecraftian for 'artificial sunlight'.

Xephos, panting, with blood dripping from his mouth, nose and wounded arm, was quite ready to admit he was beaten, and give up. His grip relaxed on the red matter blade's hilt. As Rythian approached him, his skin began to prickle, like it had been rubbed with sugared ice. The closer the mage got, with his hand emitting a blinding white light from his hand, the more the prickling turned to stabbing, and the stabbing turned to burning. He lifted his bad arm up to his eyes to shield them from the light. "Argh…what is that stuff?" he spluttered.

The mage did not answer, he only continued to advance.

The burning turned to screaming.

"Ah…jeez, cut it out, Rythian! It's hurting!" Xephos cried, transferring all his weight to his knees and dropping his katana to completely cover his eyes, as he tucked his hands into his sleeves to try and spare them from the pain.

"What's wrong, Xephos?" Rythian taunted, "It's only a little bit of light!"

Something snapped.

Xephos clutched at his sword and swung so hard and so fast at Rythian that the mage felt vibrations of strength go through his body as he barely managed to bring up his own katana to block it, the two blades clanging against one another and fizzing furiously. Xephos took advantage of his confusion and brought up his knee to thump Rythian hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and making his ribs scream with pain. The mage grunted and tried to swing at Xephos with his free hand, but the demon was far too fast, ducking below the punch and tossing Rythian aside with ease, making him land on his back as he slammed into the floor, his katana sent clattering across the ground. Rythian felt a twinge of fear as he felt a searing hot blade being pressed against his neck, and Xephos' heavy boot on his ribs, pressing him to the floor firmly. Xephos' eyes glowed a ferociously bright blue as he glared at the floored mage with a terrifyingly bitter hatred that Rythian had never seen in any human's eyes.

"_I won_." He growled, his voice twisted with fury, and for a moment Rythian closed his eyes and never expected to emerge from the darkness they brought, as bright burning blue bore through his eyelids.

The microphone clicked loudly and suddenly, startling both of the duellers. Both heads snapped around to look outside the tank.

Outside, with the microphone only halfway there on the way up to her beaming mouth, was Zoeya, looking sheepishly from one demon to the other.

"Aw, I wanted to scare you both by saying 'boo' really loudly into the microphone." She moaned, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Zoeya?" both Xephos and Rythian said at once. Rythian noticed Xephos' eyes dimming, reverting to their usual grey-blue colour. If Zoeya had known the violent nature in which Rythian had been floored, and that her prank may have caused Xephos to jump and slice his neck, maybe jumpscares would have been less of a priority.

Xephos glanced down at Rythian and immediately removed the katana from his neck, looking shocked and disturbed that it had even been there in the first place. He bent down and offered Rythian his hand, which the mage took, brushing himself down and retrieving his two swords. Xephos, after helping the mage up, chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Uh…no hard feelings…friend?" he said, outstretching his hand for the mage to shake.

"Of course not, uh…_friend_." Rythian said, shaking the demon's hand briefly, after a 'look' from Zoeya, though he could barely stomach it, and was tempted to wipe his hands afterwards.

Zoeya grinned at the Spaceman reassuringly. "Good one, Xeph. No one's taken down Rythian that fast before...hey, Rythian, wait up! Can't we hand out medals or something?"

The mage stalked past Zoeya without a second glance after he had exited the tank, reassuring Xephos that he wouldn't tell Ridge about their little duel, let alone that he had gone into the Spaceman's tank at all. Zoeya hurried after him, after a quick wave to the Spaceman, who sat down with a heavy thump on his mattress, appearing a little confused and dazed about everything, running his fingers through his thick brown hair.

"Rythian? Rythian! Where are you going?"

The mage turned around with a powerful swish of his cloak. Zoeya saw him smiling under his mask, but not a smile of warmth – a smile of cunning sliminess that Zoeya did not recognise or like.

"To conduct an experiment."


	9. Chapter 8: Revelations

Lomadia didn't speak for a while after she read through the excerpt Ridge had shown her. She just rested her head in her hands, her elbows on the tabletop as she re-read the passage, tracing some words with her finger, some prompting a thoughtful expression, others making her frown. Likewise, Ridge was unsure what to say, and so remained silent, until he could bear just standing there fidgeting with his fingers no longer.

Ridge fumbled with his words as much as his fingers and thumbs. "I'm sorry...if this is a...little...hard…to take in…just…you have to…"

"Ridge, stop talking, please." She cut in, not averting her gaze from the page in front of her.

"Right. Sorry." He said, looking to the floor, burying his hands in his pocket awkwardly. His hand came across a crumpled sheet of paper, which his fingers closed tightly around, the crinkling of the page the only sound in the room, other than the ticking clock. Ridge gazed out of the window for what felt like a very long time until the owlkeeper finally piped up.

"So let me get this straight – Xephos is one of these sin things?"

"That's correct."

"And you're like…what? His guardian angel or something?"

Ridge gave a slight laugh at the idea. "I would say I fall into the 'something' category."

Lomadia looked up at him, raising her eyebrow. "A statement that enigmatic usually comes with an explanation."

Ridge shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not particularly good at phrasing things, so I'll just come straight out with it. Xephos is the sin of Wrath, the most human of all the sins, since a small fraction of the Great Devil's power was never given to him. As it says in the story, his powers are only awakened when he feels threatened. Most of the time they are buried under his human conscience. His mother, the human from the story, planted false memories in his mind, and gave him the alias and back-story of a spaceman in order to stop the truth from surfacing, and sent him to me so I could protect him. All she wants is for her child to live a normal life."

"I get that, Ridge, but how do you fall into this?" Lomadia was still reeling from the revelation that Xephos was a demon - the seventh sin, no less. She tried to fit that idea with the images of Xephos curling up, hugging himself as he settled down to sleep, laughing with her about various anecdotes they both shared, the tenderness with which he had stroked Mr. Owl when he 'accidentally' (meaning purposefully and with an intent to cause trouble) flew into the tank's air vent and ended making a nest in Xephos' hair. None of them seemed to bode well with the diagrams of demons in the book, showing hideously terrifying figures with rows and rows of sharp teeth, glowing eyes, bathing in souls, snaking blue fire wrapping itself around its master's limbs. Lomadia didn't particularly want to accept that these images and the spaceman she had grown rather fond of were one in the same, but at the same time she knew that Ridge spoke the truth; she saw it in his eyes, heard it in his cracked voice. However long he had been keeping the truth from her, and continued to hide it from all her friends, she understood why and understood that now; he hid nothing. "How does the mother know you in the first place?"

"Xephos and I…share the same…the same mother. I...I...I am the sin of Pride. Xephos is my...brother, and we are both the sons of Satan."

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The blood dripped from the tip of the red matter katana onto a black disc, forged from cold marble, with white streaks that looked like lightning carved into it, ancient scripts that could no longer be deciphered, except by a select few who understood the tongue of demons. Rythian didn't know whether to be glad or ashamed by the fact that he understood all that was scratched into the shiny rock before him.

"Now, Xephos, let's see if you're really as innocent as you would have us believe." He said to himself, shaking his red matter katana as to get all of the drops of potential demon blood off the blade and onto the altar. His duel with Xephos had only served to heighten his suspicion, and his collection of the alien's blood from that little escapade would either confirm or disprove his theory. He felt a smug smile on his lips as he thought of how Lalna had tried to analyze blood samples with _science. _Science one, magic nil indeed.

He placed his sword down and outstretched his hands, so they floated just a little above where the blood was collecting in a pool in the middle of the disc. He read through a bookmarked page of a book, which had been propped up by a traditional wooden stand. Initially a mere interesting read, this book on the fires of the universe now served a much greater purpose – determining whether the creature who had fallen to Minecraftia was a true innocent, or a minion to the evilest being known to any. Rythian saw the incantation heavily underlined and annotated on the page, set just below the descriptions and images of fire, enderfire, netherfire, hellfire, amongst others, as well as how to identify them. All Rythian cared about were the two profiles and properties of earthly fire, and demonic hellfire. How this blood sample reacted to the spell would reveal all about Xephos' true nature.

He muttered the incantation, a language he felt a little less corrupted for knowing; "_Kuvu umilo noma qhwa efana embuly isimo salesi besk_." He said slowly, letting his eyes slip shut as he felt warm energy spread over his skin before seeping out of his fingertips, embroiling the scarlet liquid in orange tentacles. The mage opened his eyes and watched the delicate and peaceful movement, lulled into a sense of false security, before the warm tendrils erupted into violent shades of jagged blue, sending a blast of cold air into Rythian's face and around the room before the blood set alight, the dancing blue hellfire flames burning bright and chilly, like flickering flames of ice and frost, sentient and creeping.

Hellfire. The sentient servant of demons. Ukushona was said to be full of the stuff.

"_Kuyekwe._" He said bitterly, and with a wave of his hand, the flames, though angry at their extinguishing and reluctant to die down, dimmed and faded into glowing white smoulders, leaving only frozen drops of blood behind in the dish. The room was plunged into darkness, for all Rythian's candles, lit with earth fire, had been put out by the sentient hellfire. With his superior nighttime eyesight, Rythian could just make out, written at the bottom of the page, in disturbingly bright and bold red text, a message.

A warning.

_Umar bapine ke kanjalo kuyakuba siwela._

"If they fall, then so shall we fall." Rythian translated, though no one was around to hear his grave message. He felt for his red matter katana, feeling stronger and safer when he clutched its cool, hard, polished hilt, feeling the solidarity of the weapon in his hand, listening the gentle hum in the pitch black.

No one was around to hear his second warning either, but it didn't matter, as it was directed at a being not of this world – trapped on another, though longing to break free, while Rythian was alive he would strive to make sure that goal was never achieved. Alone in the dark, he spoke, his voice twisted with fury, sadness and a bitter desire for vengeance and justice.

"You killed her son, and so I shall kill yours. An eye for an eye, _lex talionis_."


	10. Chapter 9: Nightmare

_A twisting and writhing blue fire, wriggling in the darkness, performing a demonic dance as it curled itself around the arm of a beautiful young woman, who embraced the sentient flames, disgusted by her own willingness, combined with the ease with which the demon crept into and controlled her mind. The fire spoke, in a voice like the movement of many slugs, the hissing of many snakes, and the snarling of many beasts;_

_"Lassho kukkhon ama foma ishiganu?"_

_The women rolled her eyes. "Don't speak in that Demon crap to me. Not if you want to have a civilized conversation, that is."_

_The flames reared and snorted in retaliation, but obliged._

_"Where are the Halflings?"_

_The women shrugged and shivered as the cold fire slid across her skin. "If you are referring to our _children_, I don't know where they are."_

_"I expected six of them to be gone, they don't have any reason to stick around…but I thought we agreed that we would keep the seventh…"_

_"Xephos. His name is Xephos."_

_If the flickering fire had eyes, it would have either narrowed or rolled them. Since it could do neither, it continued._

_"_Xephos_, then. I thought he would be staying here."_

_"You've never shown any interest in our children before. Why do you need them all of a sudden?" The woman said suddenly, looking hard and accusingly at the hellfire._

_The creature squirmed. "No reason. I just wanted to…speak with our children, as a father should. That's all, dearest. What's so wrong with that?"_

_The woman scoffed. "How foolish do you think I am? I fell for your tricks and charms once, but I vowed never to again. I know why you seek them out – you hope to escape Ukushona, using them as a vessel – don't you?"_

_The creature remained surprisingly calm, voice still slimy and smooth, slithering up the woman's back, speaking softly into her ear. "Why would you ever think that? What an awful thing to say."_

_"While I don't believe you have learnt anything about my kind in the Notchawful time I've spent here, I have learnt about how _your_ twisted mind works. You've never cared for our children, and you show an interest only now when you _finally _work out that you _need _them if you're ever going to get out of here."_

_The fire froze, matching its temperature, and with surprising brutality it coiled itself around the woman's neck and dived down to the floor, forcing her to the ground as she coughed and choked and struggled against the intangible but immensely powerful being's hold around her fragile throat. The fiery fiend snarled and roared, its voice, which had once been slimy and deceptive, now toned and twisted with fury; "You knew all along, didn't you, mortal? You allowed me to rot in this prison for two years, a mere ghost of my former power and glory, and all along you knew that our wretched mutant children had the capability of setting me free from this hellhole?!"_

_The woman struggled and protested as the devil kept her pressed down to the black, rocky floor, as other patches of hellfire began to creep towards her writhing form. The snaking fire only curled and clenched tighter, threatening to snap her neck in two, but letting her hang on to this terrifying moment on the brink of death for as long as possible._

_"And now you've sent them away, haven't you? You sent Xephos and all his little brothers and sisters away, so subtly, so sneakily, you'd thought I'd never notice, didn't you? You sent them so I'd never find them, and then you could go and join them and I'd be stuck in here for all eternity. Well, guess what. I'm not going to let it happen like that. Listen here, bitch, if you're so smart and know so much – I might be stuck in here, and they're out there somewhere, but you don't seem to realize that until I get out of here, I'll never stop. I will break free of my chains, and I will escape Ukushona, and I will purify all the realms with hellfire, and I will rise from the flames and rule the universe, which will become my temple, my empire, as I stand victorious in the body of one of the Halflings, with you as my faithful queen, while those who imprisoned me will descend into madness and eventually destroy themselves and wither away into nothing."_

_The woman's protests weakened, becoming increasingly feeble as the sound of a cracked neck rang around the demon realm, echoing off the rocky cliffs. Relaxing its grip on the woman's neck, the flames snarled, gazing into the woman's empty blue eyes. "Get up, you filthy human. You're not dead. We made a contract. You don't die as long as I don't die, as long as your blood runs in my veins, and mine in yours. Yet another gift I gave to you. And _this_ is how you thank me?"_

_The cruel hellfire slipped onto the floor and began to slither away, but not before hissing softly in the woman's ear;_

_"I know you can hear me, even if you pretend you can't. Your choice, whatever, but you're gonna listen to me whether you like it or not. You tried so hard to protect them – no, to protect _him_, wasn't it? You really think he's human enough to fight it. 'He's not like the others', though my blood runs in his veins too. Well, I hate to break it to you, but deep down – no, a mere scratch beneath the surface away – your little Xephos is just like me."_

_The woman took a sharp gasp of air, which the demon heard as it slithered away across the rocks, but she managed to hide the fact that a tear slid silently down her cheek, crystallising as soon as it touched the ground._


	11. Chapter 10: Bond

The room was immediately permeated with a very strong, sweet smell, like spiced fruits combined with sugar. Xephos twitched and emerged from his dream, eyes heavy with sleep as he wearily and woozily rose, groaning. "Ugh…" he said, clutching at his pained head, as a pair of bright, gleeful eyes met his own sleepy ones. He jumped backwards in alarm, shifting away from the gleaming eyes.

"Hey, Xeph." Zoeya said brightly.

"Zoeya?" Xephos blurted out in surprise, still cowering in his corner of the bed. Undeterred, Zoeya knelt down beside him, grinning, as she held up a white mushroom dotted with orange polka dots for him to see.

"I knew it'd work. Gilbertus Gilberti – never fails."

"Gilbertus Gilberti?"

"Yeah. It…uh…well, it's supposed to have a different smell for everyone who smells it, and it's supposed to be your favourite odour ever – but it doesn't work for many people. Well, some people. Well…I mean I'm the only one who can smell anything different. Everyone else can just smell raw sewage and bad eggs and that kind of stuff. Truth is, I thought it would be stinky enough for you to wake up, 'cause you looked like you were having a bad dream."

"Raw sewage?" Xephos asked, taking a deep sniff, breathing in the soft scent around him. "No, it smells kind of fruity, summery. It's nice."

"It does?" Zoeya's eyes widened. "Do you know what this means?"

"I should get out more?" Xephos said, half-joking, half-hopeful.

"Xephos, you have the Mushroom Sense! Oh golly gosh!" she cried, leaping to her feet and shaking him at the shoulders. She crumpled up her face and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice, saying; "Yer a wizard, Xephos!" over and over again, until she finally let the spaceman go. She rummaged through her pockets, eventually pulling out a grotesquely lumpy looking mushroom, plain purple. "Shh, shh, shh!" she yelled excitedly, though Xephos hadn't actually dared to interrupt her yet. "Can you hear it?" She said, pressing her ear into the mushroom.

Xephos did the same on the other side. "Hear what?" he said, confused.

_Why do you think you can hear me, spaceman?_

"Huh?" Xephos said, pulling his ear away from the mushroom. The soft chattering voice stopped.

"Did you hear it?" Zoeya asked excitedly.

"Uh…I think…" Xephos said, gingerly leaning in close to listen again.

_Is it any wonder that a demon can hear the voice of a symbol of decay?_

"Yeah…he's being…quite...rude."

"Is he?" Zoeya frowned. Xephos frowned.

"Can't you hear it?"

_It's just us. She can't hear me whispering, only when I speak loud and clear – she only has a little demon about her, probably from being around that Enderborn…and snogging him, no doubt…_

"_Very _rude." Xephos said, wondering if he really was so lonely he was beginning to hear vegetables talk to him. He sighed and pulled his ear away again. Zoeya bubbled with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, Bertie is kind of a meanie – he's a little hard to get used to, but I think you and him could get along pretty well. You'll be great friends."

Xephos did not say anything, only looking at Zoeya wistfully. She grinned back but quickly looked away. Xephos, feeling lonelier than ever, curled up into a ball, wondering if he really was so lonely that he was not only talking and listening to vegetables, but he was actually pleased at the proposition of one of them being his companion.

"Can we be friends too?" Xephos blurted out suddenly, going red with embarrassment. Zoeya, who had been tucking 'Bertie' into her pocket once again, looked taken aback. She looked, startled, at Xephos, who blushed again and hid his face almost immediately, burying it inside his knees, which were brought up to his chest. "Sorry." He said, muffled. "What a stupid thing to say. Forget I asked."

"It's not stupid, Xeph. I didn't realise how claustrophobic it must get in here."

"Oh, it's not that bad. I'm fine with the tank, I understand why we need it. It's just...I like having people around, even if I don't always understand what they're saying - like Lalna; he always uses big fancy words I don't get. And Ridgedog...well, I know he doesn't like me. But everyone else has been really nice - Nilesy, Ravs, Sips, Sjin, Lomadia - and now you. But no one's been to talk to me or see more and I just know it's because I'm weird and different..." Zoeya hated seeing Xephos' bright eyes becoming increasingly watery, "...but that's not my fault. I need someone to talk to every once in a while, I understand why people don't...but I don't like thinking about them deliberately avoiding me because they're afraid or because they...hate me." Xephos' voice cracked slightly. "And when nobody's here I start seeing these things - these horrible things; people burning to death in blue flames, and this woman who I feel like I know but I never know how getting tortured and abused by this...this..." he coughed. "...snaking...smoky..._evil_. And it's just a nightmare, I know that...but it seems so _real_...and I'm afraid of it...and it keeps coming back, because I don't have any happy memories or experiences to blot it out with...argh...why won't it go away? It's here, in the back of my mind, even now." Xephos quickly wiped his eyes. "Notch, I'm such a wimp. What must you think of me?"

Zoeya had been close friends with Rythian for a long time, and Rythian had warned her to stay away from Xephos – he was a demon, he was dangerous, blah blah blah – and Zoeya had seen for herself that Xephos had once had Rythian pinned down, and though she had hidden it with her jokey prank, she had seen a terrifying fury in the spaceman's eyes, and for a moment she had not been sure that he would have resisted slicing Rythian's throat. But now, in his eerily bright blue eyes she saw only longing, loneliness, and fear, which were things she never wanted to see in the eyes of any person, and something she knew she could never see in the eyes of any demon.

Xephos suddenly found himself wrapped in warmth, as Zoeya thrust her arms around him, and he quickly found himself fulfilling his desire for human embrace, and hugging the mushroom enthusiast back, deciding very quickly he preferred being surrounded by tangles of warm red fire as opposed to the cold blue hellfire that seemed, for once, unable to invade his mind in this moment of happiness.

"I think I'm your friend, Xephos."

Xephos sniffed and snuffled with happiness, glad to be accepted by one person at least.

"Thank you."


	12. Chapter 11: Contract

_The young man stood on the brink of the abyss, watching smoke swim around in the murky waters, with rays of light bursting through every now and then, shapes twisting and contorting. He watched as his brothers and sisters raced wildly about, bathing in blue flames, diving off crooked rocks made from souls of the dead. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and heard a gentle voice behind him._

_"You have a fascination with my kind, don't you?"_

_"The human part is the only good part of me. I consider it necessary to remember that it is still within me." He replied, staring blankly into the smoky waters below._

_The woman stepped to the right and stood beside the young man, looking into the waters with him. "You know, we are alike in more ways than just our DNA."_

_"How so?"_

_"We both wish to die, and yet we cannot. We are both immortal as his blood runs through our veins. Evil does not die."_

_"Good does not live, either." The man replied._

_"Not in this place, no. But…" she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, leaning in close to the young man's ear. "…The human world, Minecraftia, where I'm from, is wonderful, teeming with life and beauty. You know you can leave this realm, don't you?"_

_The man remained calm at this. "I've suspected for a quite a while."_

_"I expected you to. Your brothers and sisters can as well."_

_"Yes, I thought as much. A certain combination of human and demon blood is enough to trick the DNA Lock on the Gate. But I never understood one thing."_

_"What's that?" the woman asked, truly intrigued._

_"Why didn't _you_ leave?" the man asked, finally turning towards her, his golden eyes boring into her own green ones. "You mightn't have enough demon in you to survive as a host, but theoretically, you could escape. And I know you want to, so why stay?"_

_The woman looked down into the waters. It was a long time before she answered, her voice racked with sorrow. "You must understand that…that…I…I…cannot love…you…and your kin."_

_The man looked a little hurt but completely unsurprised. "I know. You see a being's faults and flaws a thousand times more clearly than anyone else. Demons must especially disgust you."_

_The woman looked grateful that she did not have to explain it. "And you know that he has been looking for a way to escape ever since he was imprisoned here? You must know that once he finds out that you and your siblings are what he desires; one of you will be used as a host?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Well…it…it hurts me, but…your youngest brother…I…I see good in him, I see human in him."_

_"Xephos?"_

_"Yes. I…feel like…I love him. I feel like his mother, his real mother. And as a mother I cannot abandon him, especially not in a place like this. That's why I haven't left."_

_"You cannot protect him forever, you know."_

_"No." the woman said, so abruptly the young man was taken aback. She turned to him, and very gently took hold of his ice-cold hand, hard like polished marble. "Together we can, though."_

_The man looked round in surprise. "What?"_

_The woman continued calmly. "I've planned everything."_

_"Planned what? What are you talking about?"_

_"I'm talking about saving Xephos, and in doing that, saving you, giving you something to live for so you don't spend your entire life wallowing in self-loathing, despising your own existence. I know that you long to do good; embrace your human side, and I see compassion in you more than I see it in any of the other five."_

_The man ripped his hand away and took a few steps back. "How can anyone see me for what I am? No one sees past this disguise I am cursed with."_

_"How do you know that?" the woman said knowingly, looking straight at him. "You cannot choose what you look like, only what kind of person you are. And if you did this for me, then I truly would consider you the greatest person I have ever known."_

_The young man and woman stood silently for a moment, both gazing upwards. Across the shining lake, resting upon an archway of sagging rock, fast asleep while his brothers and sisters zoomed round Ukushona around him, was Xephos, mumbling and muttering as he tossed and turned in his slumber, looking peacefully innocent as he curled up closer to a white and orange spotted mushroom, so far from his 'Wrath' identity. The young man sighed and glanced back at the woman._

_"I assume keeping him asleep for long periods of time is all part of this 'plan'?"_

_"Yes. But I would only trust you with any further details if you and I made a contract – a blood binding – that we would both protect Xephos."_

_The young man looked back across the lake at his brother, curled up tight as hellfire crept towards him and began to seep into his mind, making Xephos twist uncomfortably with unpleasant dreams. It hurt Ridgedog to see him suffer, but hurt was an emotion he wasn't sure he quite understood. In fact sometimes he felt he didn't understand anything about himself, which was daunting because no one else in the Universe did, in fact they didn't know of his existence. Was his human side really strong enough to allow this emotion to slip into his mind, to help him make his decision?_

_He wanted it to be. He needed it to be. He would love it to be._

_"I'll do it." He said, surprised at his confident tone._

_The woman slowly pulled out a small knife, sharp and silver, and cut delicately, without whimpering or pausing, across the same line she had cut many years ago, but the young man stopped her halfway through, removing the knife from her skin. "Not too much – one drop will be enough. If it touches the ground, he'll taste it. He'll know what we're doing."_

_The woman handed him the knife, two of her fingers wet with her blood. "Get it quickly." She commanded. "Before it heals."_

_The young man cut savagely and forcefully across his own wrist, which only barely pierced the first layer of stone-like skin. A single drop of thick, dark blood oozed out, which the young man caught on his index finger. Simultaneously, the woman and the young man pressed their bloodied fingers onto each other's wound, gazing into each other's eyes, not saying a word._

_They withdrew their fingers, and the woman reached into her pocket, pulling out a crumpled and crinkled piece of paper that had been folded many times. She tucked into the young man's coat pocket, patting it gently. "Read that when you get to the human world."_

_"The human world? What, I'm leaving now?"_

_"Yes, Oracan." The woman said, looking at the young man defiantly. "Establish a community of good people while you wait. They're far more abundant in Minecraftia than in Ukushona."_

_Oracan clenched his fist around the letter in his pocket, glad to have something solid serving as a bridge between the world he understood and the world in which he belonged. He took a step forward, ready to dive into the smoky shining waters, into the human world. He turned and beamed widely at the woman, his face lighting up, something the woman hadn't seen for at least five years._

_"It's Ridgedog now, Mother. I played around with the English translation."_

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"That was the last I ever saw of her." Ridgedog said, softly and sadly. "I don't know what happened to her after that, but her letter said that she would eventually be coming here as well."

"Did she say when?" Lomadia asked.

Ridge pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket; a piece of paper which looked singed at the edges, and in some places had been taped together where it had ripped. He unfolded it tenderly, scanning through the words he knew so well, words he had read and reread dozens of times. "She never mentions when. Just 'when the time is right.'"

"Well, that's as clear as mud." Lomadia said moodily, trying to piece all the information she had been given together. It was sending her brain into overdrive, as Ridge had told her things, shown her things, written about things, and trying to connect all the dots was beginning to give her a headache.

"I appreciate that all this is a little hard to take in." Ridge said apologetically, as though reading her mind. Lomadia didn't like the fact that that seemed to be a very real possibility, on top of everything else.

"You got that right, Ridge. Who are you going to tell me is a demon next? Lalna? Nilesy? Mr. Owl?"

"But can you understand why I kept this from you all? To face such judgment from people so close to me is almost unbearable – and I wanted to spare Xephos from the same trials."

"Well, yeah, I guess…this is all pretty heavy stuff. And I suppose this…sort of…makes sense."

Ridge did not know whether to feel honored or offended. Lomadia caught his mixed expression.

"Well…very vaguely. I mean, I'm not sure why we never questioned it before, but you can fly...and click your fingers to make all kinds of weird stuff happen…that's pretty 'supernatural' I guess...and if any of us really believed in any of these old legends – well, we sure as heck wouldn't think you were an Angel."

Ridge gave a wan smile. "I suppose not."

Lomadia's eyes darted back to the page, and a worried expression took over her face. "But still…Ridge…a death wish…really?"

Ridge looked alarmed at her mentioning of it, but his eyes darted back down to look at his fingers crossing and crisscrossing over each other as he tried to distract himself from it. "Yes...I...I am cursed...with deceiving others...with only myself knowing my true form...never being able to see _this _body in the mirror...it's too...too painful for me to look at anymore...I might try to...to be good...but I'm...always lying...to everyone..." he stuttered, looking like he was physically struggling in a fight against himself for trying to talk about it. Lomadia guessed he'd never really spoken about it to anyone before. "It's…got…better…since I met all of you. But…yes…it's still there, and I don't suppose it'll ever truly go away. But I…try….not…to think about it. If you don't mind."

"Of course…sorry." Lomadia said, looking at her feet awkwardly. "You were saying about the letter?"

Ridge looked relieved to be able to move onto a different subject. He looked down at the letter once again, skimming through sections, abbreviating for Lomadia. "Dear Ridgedog…I am sorry to put this pressure on you…travel to Minecraftia and establish a community…after a few years…Xephos will be sent to you…he will remember nothing of Ukushona…backstory of a spaceman…play along…blinded to the world of Ukushona…Israphel will try to invade his mind when he finds out…other sins will have left by then…protect him…don't worry about me…look after yourself…I will come and see you someday…when the time is right…all my love, Kaza."

"Kaza?"

"It's Demon for 'flower', but she never said what her English name was. In fact, this is the first time I found out what her name was at all. I only ever called her 'mother', and I don't suppose any of my siblings ever spoke to her much. They were much less willing to embrace their human side than I or Xephos."

"Where do you suppose they are now? The other sins?"

Ridge shrugged, tucking the letter away, looking thankful for the excuse to stop exposing it to the air, as though he were worried it were so precious it would crumble away if it stayed out of his pocket too long. "I know as soon as I left they probably will have left soon after, but they could have gone anywhere, not necessarily Minecraftia - they might be in one of the other realms. But I would know them if I saw them, even in their human form, and vice versa, and they haven't been here, so that's one good thing, I guess."

"Your…human form? So that little…freakout…earlier…?"

Ridge scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not meeting Lomadia's eyes. "Well, yes…stress and exposure to another one of my kin is making me a little more unstable than usual. My self-control is a little…off. That's why I feel I need to stay away from Xephos. As 'Wrath', his demon and human form can interchange with much more ease, and my presence already makes it more unstable. I don't want the memories my mother constructed for him to fall away, undoing all her work. That's why I have to keep my distance."

"Oh, Ridge." Lomadia said, shaking her head. "You can't do that. You've given him the backstory of an alien, sure, but he's going to learn from _us, _and want to _be _like us. We're humans; we're social creatures. You can't keep the poor fella locked up in a box all his life, he'll go mad with loneliness. It'll be a risk letting him out, sure, but so is letting your kid go outside for the first time. Keeping him separate from us is just going to make him upset. He told me so himself – how he feels he's an outcast. And the impression you've given him – he thinks you hate him. And Ridge – I've learnt today that you have enough to worry about with thinking your brother is afraid of you. Welcome him; let him out. If you want him to live a normal life, _let _him live a normal life. If it's really so dangerous, we can both keep an eye on him."

Ridge remained silent for a while. "I'm just…so worried…so afraid for him."

"He's either a human, in which case _he_ should be allowed to be afraid for himself, or he's a demon, in which case he doesn't have anything to be afraid _of_."


End file.
